UK house prices rose 6.1% in the year to September, up from 5.5% annual inflation in the year to August.
According to the Office for National Statistics, house price inflation was 6.4% in England, 1.1% in both Wales and Scotland, and 10.2% in Northern Ireland.
In England, annual house price increases were driven by the rises in the east at 8.4% and in the south-east at 7.4%.
Excluding London and the south-east, UK house prices rose by 5% in the 12 months to September. In London, annual house price inflation stood at 7.2%.
The average UK “mix-adjusted” house price in September was £286,000.
In England the average house price was £299,000, in Wales £175,000, in Scotland £199,000 and in Northern Ireland £162,000.
In London, the average house price was £531,000. The region with the lowest house price, at £158,000, was the north-east.
The prices are remarkably close to Rightmove’s asking prices for new property coming on the market within the last month. This week, Rightmove reported the average as £292,572.
Comments (5)
It all depends on the number of properties sold in each region at the price.
10 properties sold at £100k and 10 properties sold at £1m have an average price of £550,000.
Just one extra property at £2m (say) takes that average up to nearly £620,000.
If we assume that there is more business going on at a higher price in some areas it is clear to see that the figure gets skewed upwards.
The problem is with the word AVERAGE.
Also remember it is the Office of National (Damned Lies And) Statistics.
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Agreed AC. The trouble is that misleading stats like these from ONS allow politicians and civil servants to choose whichever ones suit their purpose. I can just hear Cameron spouting that ‘We must do the right thing [has anyone else noticed that this is the buzz-phrase of the moment] and help young people onto the housing ladder which now sees the average price of property at almost £300,000 yada yada yada…’.
I agree surreymac. The ONS figure is downright misleading. The Land Registry figure for England and Wales, excluding London, as of September 2015 is £186,553. Even if London was included it would not shove the average price up to anywhere near the ONS level!
If anyone can ever explain how ONS arrives at averages £100k higher than most other indices then I may start to take them seriously. As for saying that they are close to the current Rightmove figure then the defence rests.